Catch a Glimmer of Your Star

To a field of hopes and dreams

Kel.

Hero.

They're...smiling at us?

"Hey. Sunny, Basil," Hero greeted.

"Hi, Kel! Hi, Hero!" Sunny and Basil replied.

"What's up? Glad to see you two again!" Kel responded.

What do I even say?

Birds chirped loudly from the trees.

"...Awrite, I should just say it to clear the air," Kel spoke. "We feel terrible about kicking you out of our Christmas party last year. I'm really sorry."

"Especially with the snowstorm," Hero added. "I'm sorry too."

"I—It's okay!" Basil replied quickly. "We got home without any issues."

Hero shook his head and smiled at the same time. "Still, that doesn't excuse us being the worst Christmas hosts ever. Kicking our friends out into the middle of a snowstorm..."

"We're really sorry too," Basil said.

Sunny lowered his eye. "Yeah, we're the ones who should be apologizing."

"We want to apologize from the bottom of our hearts for lying to you...for doing all those awful things," Basil said.

"I'm so sorry for being such a bad friend," Sunny spoke with his head bowed.

Hero smiled, almost embarrassed. "It's okay. Kel and I have talked about it a lot, and...we forgive you two."

"Yeah, it's all good," Kel said.

Sunny raised his head. He looked at Kel, at Hero, and then at Basil.

His friends finally smiled altogether again.

Kel patted Sunny and Basil on the back. "Look, we know how you two feel. You, uh, you both screwed up. But we all did in our own way, too. So, we want to give you another chance. You're still our friends."

"Kel...thank you!" Sunny replied.

"We can't move on if we keep holding on to angry feelings," Hero spoke, smiling. "So, let's just say that everyone's learned their lesson."

Sunny felt tears welling up in his eye.

"Sunny, Basil, welcome back."

"I'm...I'm so happy to be back," Basil said, almost trembling in gratitude.

"Okay, come in," Kel said, ushering them inside. "Let's get this reunion party started!"

I didn't expect this to go so smoothly.

I'm so glad.

I don't know how to express all the feelings in my heart.

Sunny glanced at Basil.

Basil wiped a tear from his eye, glancing back knowingly.

Their smiles were truly pure this time. They could...really just let loose and party with their friends again!

"Is Aubrey here?" Basil asked.

"Nope, not yet," Kel answered.

Sunny went into a living room so homely and familiar he almost felt like he was a kid again. Earlier, Hero had told him that they had the house to themselves for their reunion. Soft drinks popped open and seats were taken on the couch in the living room. Basil preferred tea; Hero, ever the good host, had already boiled loose leaf green tea just for him.

"How's life in the city going?" Hero asked.

"It's great. Maybe not the city itself—I still find it a bit polluted and noisy. But I can always escape to the garden where we volunteer every week," Basil replied.